1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to infusion sets and, in particular, to disposable infusion sets having a soft catheter which is inserted into the skin for the subcutaneous delivery of a fluid to a patient.
2. Description of Related Art
Subcutaneous infusion sets are generally used by patients for delivering a fluid or drug to a subcutaneous location in the patient. While most infusion sets include a delivery tube that may be connected to an infusion pump or other fluid or drug delivering device, the delivery tubes of prior art infusion sets have been disadvantageous to patients for a variety of reasons.
Some infusion sets of the prior art include a base portion disposed on the skin of the patient and a connector portion that attaches to the base portion. A delivery tube may be attached to the connector portion. Thus, when the connector portion is attached to the base portion, the delivery tube may be connected to an infusion pump or other device for fluid delivery. However, if the connector portion of the infusion set is rigidly attached to the base portion, the delivery tube may be oriented in a position that is undesirable or impractical for the patient. If the delivery tube is in a position that is undesirable or impractical for the patient, the patient is resigned to removing the base portion from the patient's skin and inserting a new infusion set base, since the old one cannot be safely reused. It is not normally possible to re-orient the base portion because re-orienting the base portion typically includes re-inserting a needle into the skin. Also, re-orienting the base portion can be discomforting, painful or could lead to infection and thus is undesirable for the patient.
Some infusion sets of the prior art have been proposed so that the connector portion and, thus, the delivery tube, may rotate freely about the base portion. While infusion sets of this type have allowed patients to freely position the orientation of the delivery tubes, freely rotating infusion sets have other disadvantages. Generally, too much movement of the delivery tube is undesirable. For example, because the delivery tube is typically delivering a fluid or some type of drug or infusant to a patient, it is necessary that the fluid path remain unobstructed. If the delivery tube is permitted to rotate freely around the base portion of the infusion set, the delivery tube may be subject to entanglement, twisting, kinking or the like, interrupting the infusion process.
What is needed is a subcutaneous infusion set that gives the patient the flexibility to adjust the location of the delivery tube without the disadvantages associated with delivery tubes that are free to rotate completely around the infusion site.